Using the Psychology of Flattery for a Good Cause

Here’s an interesting finding: if you present information to someone you’ve flattered, their recall of that information will be better. In other words, if someone’s ego is stroked, they’ll be more likely to remember what you say–even if they don’t feel like you’re completely sincere.

While this doesn’t have much to do with your nonprofit at first glance, it does have implications for how you present information to others. For instance, if you adopt a position of positivity and compliments, you have a better chance of constituents remembering you and your cause, successfully teaching others at your nonprofit a new fundraising technique or getting your board of directors to focus on a new proposal. We’d say that’s well worth the price of being a little less antagonistic.